Aspiring tech majors at SJC Brooklyn had an experience of a lifetime Oct. 20 when they received a behind-the-scenes tour at Google’s New York City office. Organized by SJC Brooklyn’s computer science club SJC Squared, the field trip provided the 25 students with first-hand insight on the culture of the tech industry.
Google’s Manhattan office is the web search giant’s second-largest in the country – smaller only to Google’s corporate campus in Mountain View, California. At the beginning of the tour, students were shown personal computers from the past few decades, with an explanation of how dramatically computing power and technological progressed during that period.
“My favorite part of the tour was the computing exhibit,” said John Drake, a junior and computer information technology major at SJC Brooklyn. “To see these machines – and the future of computing – in the same tour was an enlightening and amazing experience.”
This trip to Google provided our students and club members with a window to the real world that they don’t get in the classroom, and gave them exposure to one of the most dynamic and interesting tech firms in the world.” – Salim Arfaoui, SJC Brooklyn computer science instructor
A Willingness to Lead
After seeing the unique features of the facility, such as the game room, the Lego lab and open and free cafeterias, SJC Brooklyn students were treated to a private question and answer period with a team of Google software engineers.
“As an aspiring video game designer, I really appreciated the insights I received from the Google team,” said Christopher Viquez, a junior and computer science major at SJC Brooklyn. “The tips I received will be very useful as I look to get and internship and prepare for my career after SJC.”
During the question and answer session, the Google team outlined the company’s corporate values and explained that excellence in coding and programming isn’t enough to work at Google; successful professionals — both there and in the tech industry as a whole — must possess a capacity and desire to continuously learn, work collaboratively and know how to lead.
“This was the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Salim Arfaoui, instructor of computer science and moderator of SJC Squared. “This trip to Google provided our students and club members with a window to the real world that they don’t get in the classroom, and gave them exposure to one of the most dynamic and interesting tech firms in the world.”
